Monday, November 19, 2012

The media double standards in the West on the new and tragic Israeli escalation of violence directed at Gaza were epitomized by an absurdly partisan New York Times front page headline: "Rockets Target Jerusalem; Israel girds for Gaza Invasion" (NYT, Nov 16, 2012). Decoded somewhat, the message is this: Hamas is the aggressor, and Israel when and if it launches a ground attack on Gaza must expect itself to be further attacked by rockets. This is a stunningly Orwellian re-phrasing of reality. The true situation is quite the opposite. That the defenseless population of Gaza can be assumed now to be acutely fearful of Israeli assault, While it is also true without minimizing the reality of a threat that some rockets fired from Gaza fell harmlessly on the the outskirts of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. There is such a gross disproportion in the capacity of the two sides to inflict damage and suffering due to Israeli total military dominance

rockets is a criminal violation of international humanitarian law, but the low number of casualties caused and the minor damage caused, needs to be assessed in the overall context of massive violence inflicted on the Palestinians.

The assassination of Jabari came a few days after an informal truce that had been negotiated through the good offices of Egypt, and quite ironically agreed to by none other than Jabari acting on behalf of Hamas. An assassination of such a high profile Palestinian political figure as Jabari is not a spontaneous act. It is based on elaborate surveillance over a long period, and is obviously planned well in advance partly with the hope of avoiding collateral damage, and thus limiting unfavorable publicity.

the Israeli leadership knew exactly what it was doing when it broke the truce and assassinated such a prominent Hamas leader, someone generally thought to be second only to the Gaza prime minister, Ismail Haniya. There have been rumors, and veiled threats, for months that the Netanyahu government plans a major assault of Gaza, and the timing of the ongoing attacks seems to coincide with the dynamics of Israeli internal politics, especially the traditional Israeli practice of shoring up the image of toughness of the existing leadership in Tel Aviv as a way of inducing Israeli citizens to feel fearful, yet protected, before casting their ballots.

Under Sieg

From an international law point of view, Israel's purported "disengagement" from Gaza didn't end its responsibility as an Occupying Power under the Geneva Conventions, and thus its master plan of subjecting the entire population of Gaza to severe forms of collective punishment amounts to a continuing crime against humanity, as well as a flagrant violation of Article 33 of Geneva IV. It is not surprising that so many who have observed the plight of Gaza at close range have described it as "the largest open air prison in the world".

What distinguishes settler colonialism from other forms of colonialism is the resolve of the colonialists not only to exploit and dominate, but to make the land their own and superimpose their own culture on that of indigenous population. In this respect, Israel is well served by the Hamas/Fatah split, and seeks to induce the oppressed Palestinian to give up their identity along with their resistance struggle even to the extent of asking Palestinians in Israel to take an oath of loyalty to Israel as "a Jewish state".

Actually, unlike the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Israel has no long-term territorial ambitions in Gaza. Israel's short-term solution to its so-called "demographic problem" (that is, worries about the increase in the population of Palestinians relative to Jews) could be greatly eased if Egypt would absorb Gaza, or if Gaza would become a permanently separate entity, provided it could be reliably demilitarised. What makes Gaza presently useful to the Israelis is their capacity to manage the level of violence, both as a distraction from other concerns (eg backing down in relation to Iran; accelerated expansion of the settlements) and as a way of convincing their own people that dangerous enemies remain and must be dealt with by the iron fist of Israeli militarism.

Friday, November 16, 2012

An extreme act, such as Israel's assassination of Hamas military chief, Ahmed Al-Jabari invites extreme consequences. These are now threatened by Gaza militants who vow to resume the suicide bombings that terrorized Israeli cities a decade or more ago.

Israel's most recent conflicts- Operation Cast Lead in Gaza in 2008 and Lebanon in 2006 is pitted with mis calculation about the capabilities of the enemy, has ability to inflict real pain and the length of time needed to subdue him. Cast Lead was dressed up as a victory that entailed sever, lasting political and diplomatic consequences for Israel without achieving its primary military objective, defanging of Hamas.

Ostensibly learning from the past errors, Barak, the Israeli defense minister, defined the operation's aim this time around. He said, sought to strengthen deterrence deplete the Hamas rocket infrastructure, damage Hamas and other terror organizations, and minimize harm to Israel". But looked at closely, these are vague objectives.

Hamas knows that Israel does not want to topple the regime entirely and usher in an era of chaos in Gaza, and Israel knows that it is very difficult to score points against a terror organization reared on ethos of suicide and dispersed among one of the most densely populated civilians in the world.

Netanyahu, who cultivates a strong man image, will seek re-election in January. He is striving to impress Israeli voters with a decisive blow against Hamas, and cannot now desist until such a blow has been demonstrably delivered. Netanyahu's war may actually end up bolstering Hamas in Gaza, or alternatively cause it splinter and loss ground to more Jihadis groups.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

The Egyptian president, Mohammed Morsi, has fired back at Israel from the arsenal of diplomacy as Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip confront him with a wrenching test of loyalities, to Hamas and to Egypt's peace treaty with Israel.

In just Two days, Mr.Morsi has recalled Egypt's ambassador to Tel Aviv, dispatched his prime minister on a solidarity mission to Gaza, and even publicly instructed top general to inspect air bases and prepare land defense near Gaza border.

Both sides in the conflict appear to be testing Egypt's new leader. Hamas is wondering how much it may draw from the Egyptian state, While Israel seems to probe the depth of Mr. Morsi's stated commitment to the peace treaty.

Mr.Morsi has so far vowed full backing for Hamas and the palestinians. In Egypt's domestic politics, the crisis has rallied a sense of national unity behind the president. And even his rivals have cheered the vigor of his response.

Surprising some, Mr.Morsi has not opened Egypt's border to Gaza and instead has moved aggressively to try to shut down or blow up smuggling tunnels long used by Hamas to circumvent the Israeli boycott, contending that they pose a security risk to Egypt.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Sourse of the Article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/14/israeli-minister-threatens-abbas-un?fb=native&CMP=FBCNETTXT9038

Summary for those people who do not have time or energy to read the whole article

Hardline Foreign minister, Avigdor Liberman, is arguing on Israel that should topple the Palestinian president, if he still presses ahead with request for recognition of the Palestinian state. In a draft distributed to the media, Liberman argues on Israel only viable option to overthrow the president, he said " A reality in which UN recognized a Palestinian state according to a unilateral process will destroy all Israeli deterrence".

The minister of strategic affair warned the Palestinian that they would pay a heavy price if they submitted a resolution seeking for state. Besides, it would be flagrant breach of the Oslo Accords.Israel is concentrating its diplomatic offensive on EU. Liberman held a three day meeting with the Israeli ambassadors in the European nations in Vienna to brief them on the consequences of a vote in favor of Palestine in order for them to step up pressure on their host governments.

The French president told a Paris press conference that he could not rule out the possibility of France supporting the Palestinian initiative. Israel government said that the adoption of the resolution will give Israel the right to reevaluate previous agreement with Palestine Liberation Organization, and consider cancelling them partially or completely, and would make progress in the peace process more difficult in the future.